They make a Worth magazine listing
of 'places where money
finds company'

Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

If high home prices mean prosperity, four neighbor island communities are among the nation's richest, according to a national magazine.

In its July/August issue, Worth magazine lists four Hawaii communities among its selection of the "richest towns," described as the "places where money finds company."

The list of 192 communities is based on median home prices, a statistic that usually gives Hawaii a negative ranking as one of the highest-cost places to live. But Worth, a New York-based magazine aimed at those in the upper income brackets, sees the richest towns as places where the wealthy can be among their own kind.

No. 10 on the list is Kapalua, Maui, with a population of 408 and a median home price of $900,000. Ranking 35th is Wailea, Maui, with a 3,798 population and a $650,000 home price median, the point where half the homes sold for more and half for less.

Another Maui community, Kaanapali, ranks 65th with a population of 5,340 and a median home price of $550,000, and Poipu, Kauai, is 135th because of a median home price of $411,500 and a population of 975.

The magazine omitted Honolulu because the city's overall median didn't meet its minimum of $300,000, but said some parts of Honolulu would have been near the top of its list.

Tops in the nation? Matinecock, N.Y., a Long Island community with a population of 880 and a median home price of $1.47 million.